1. Sean Payton & Mickey Loomis knew months before their suspensions went into effect that the league rejected Payton’s contract extension with the Saints due to a technicality (the Loomis clause).

2. Loomis & Payton both have stated that they will not reenter contract negations until they have written approval from the league office.

3. The league has verified that they have indeed issued written approval for the club and the Payton camp to work on a contract extension.

4. A contract extension between Payton and the Saints still seem to be at a standstill and no immediate solution is expected anytime soon.

5. Payton, Loomis & Benson all are saying the right things but it’s all talk thus far.

So here’s my issue with the whole situation…Sean Payton agreed to the contract extension that was rejected due to the wording of his out clause that I will refer to the Loomis clause. This was not an issue over power, money or duration. So my question is, Why isn’t this deal at least done or progressing? Why are we reopening “contract Negations”?

There’s only one logical reason… Payton wants more money.

The fact is that maybe he does deserve the money but in the terms Payton agreed to in the rejected contract would have made him the highest paid coach in franchise history and put him on the level of the top tier coach’s salary wise in the NFL. Now the talk is that Benson is considering making Payton the league’s highest paid coach in the NFL… Why should Benson have to be CONSIDERING ANYTHING?

The deal was made, Benson was loyal to Payton throughout the whole Bounty Gate fiasco and now he has to consider giving up more money???

Face it Saints fans, the only reason Benson would have to consider this is because Payton is demanding it and if that truly is the case then I have lost some respect for Payton as an individual. Tom Benson is and always was a shred business man, as much as Payton has done for this franchise a deals a deal and I cannot see how Benson would not look at this as a stab in the back if it is true that Payton is using his new found leverage to force more money out of him.

I mean, if Payton truly is not considering leaving (presumably for Dallas) then what is the hold up? We’re talking about a technicality holding up a 5 year multimillion dollar extension! If that is enough to truly give Payton doubts deep enough to not sign the extension without it, then is it really out of the realm of possibility that Payton has enough doubt about the future ownership of the Saints franchise that it wouldn’t force him to seriously consider leaving to coach the team in the city his family lives in and is owned by one of his best friends in the business?

Something is really fishy here folks… Maybe this is all speculation on my part but the one thing I know for sure is that the longer Payton and the Saints go without a signed contract, the longer the legs on this story grows.

Let me end this by saying that I love Sean Payton and want nothing more than to see him as the coach of the Saints now and in the future. I also understand the business side of the game and that Payton now has contract leverage and a 6 million dollar loss to make up. I know that in a leagues where loyalty is a lost art form, I get why Payton would want to hold out for either the most cash he can get or in his view the best job for him and his family heading into the future but to me Benson has went away from the norm with Payton. Benson stood by Payton when almost every media outlet was calling for his firing. Benson went to bat for the suspended coach in private meetings with the commissioner at leagues offices in New York City. Benson offered and Payton agreed to contract terms to make the coach the highest paid in franchise history and one of the top paid in the NFL. Also the fans, sure there feelings always seem to be the least major interest when it comes to contract neagoating but this fan base stood by our coach without question and even adopted the “free Sean Patyon” mantra. To me Tom Benson, these fans and this city has gone away from the norm of today’s NFL, we were all loyal to Payton so excuse me if I feel that Payton should return the favor and don’t judge me If my perspective of Payton changes if he doesn’t.

Forget the Draft… Payton and his character is officially on the clock!

Payton agreed to the deal before he was suspended. He then got suspended and the league officially voided it after suspending him. Now that the team has sufferers some difficulties it shows the importance of payton to the team. Unless he holds out and we make the playoffs all this is doing is showing he's that much mote valuable to the team to go from 13-3 to 4-5 with better talent available to the team.

Payton agreed to the deal before he was suspended. He then got suspended and the league officially voided it after suspending him. Now that the team has sufferers some difficulties it shows the importance of payton to the team. Unless he holds out and we make the playoffs all this is doing is showing he's that much mote valuable to the team to go from 13-3 to 4-5 with better talent available to the team.

Make him the highest paid coach and look back imo.

I get all that, I hear and understand all the "give him his money" talk but lets remember something...

Benson gave him his money! That contract made Payton the highest paid coach in franchise history and one of the top 3 highest paid coaches in the NFL. It's not like Benson nickel and dimed Payton.

So, the wording of the contract needs to be redone... the contract was fine for Payton before, the only difference now is that Payton now has leverage to get additional money out of Benson. In other words, Payton has a chance to nickel and dime Tom Benson.

If Payton decides to do it just because he has the chance to. heres who he'll be doing it to...

Tom Benson:

The owner who gave him his big shot
The owner who gave him free run of his franchise
The owner who stood behind him through the bounty gate bull
The owner who has defended his rep
The owner who rewarded him with a top level NFL contract

I get that alls fair in love and war and that Payton has a chance to add a few extra bucks in his pocket but looking at all Benson did in loyality to Payton, it would be the perverable slap in the face to the owner that has been nothing short of amazing to him if he does so.

Payton was going to get his shot that year, whether it was the Saints or another franchise.

Most coaches have free run, or close to free run, of most well run organizations as they trust their coaches.

I would hope the owner stood behind him through the scandal, defending his rep, and offer one of the best head coaches in the NFL a top contract as that is what should be expected from a coach that took a team that was the laughing stock of the NFL to one of the most dominant teams during his tenure.

A lot of things have changed since he originally agreed to the contract extension, so him wanting to adjust his demands is completely understandable._________________
2013 Adopt-A-Saint
TE Jimmy Graham-86 rec, 1215 yds, 16 TDs
WR Kenny Still-34 rec, 641 yds, 5 TDs

(I think this is all just talk to force Benson into A. making him the leaugs highest paid coach & B. figuring out a way to keep Rita Benson LeBlanc out of his hair.)

Sitll, with Jerry Jones... no price is to high and the pull of family love trumps anything that he has built in New Orleans (and ya can keep ur Bensons private jet comments, in Dallas his home is a 18 minute commute to the Stadium).

So if Payton did decide to jet... here is my top 5 wish list to replace him.

1. Nick Saban: Say what you will, Dude can build a defense and would likley like another shot to prove he can do it. With Brees and this offense, and owner willing to stay out of the way and spend money and his ability to rebuild this defense Saban could be special in New Orleans.

2. Mike Zimmer: Every where Zimmer has been he has produced a stout NFL defense. He's been on the short list for some time and landing him would keep us in contention as long as Drew is here.

3. Jim Mora Jr.: Laugh if you want but JMJ is a solid football coach. He was killed by coach killer (michael vick, ask andy reid) in Atlanta and was set up for failure by managment in his one season in seattle. He has a long connection with the franchise and also feilds a dam good defense.

4. Gus Bradley: Bradley is a very good young defensive mind who has the Seattle defense playing stout football. He's reguarded as a HC in waiting and one of the brighest young NFL minds out their.

5. Randy Horton: THe Arizona DC is a chip off the old - Lebouf tree. A master of the 34 defense and a leader of men!

Payton was going to get his shot that year, whether it was the Saints or another franchise.

Most coaches have free run, or close to free run, of most well run organizations as they trust their coaches.

I would hope the owner stood behind him through the scandal, defending his rep, and offer one of the best head coaches in the NFL a top contract as that is what should be expected from a coach that took a team that was the laughing stock of the NFL to one of the most dominant teams during his tenure.

A lot of things have changed since he originally agreed to the contract extension, so him wanting to adjust his demands is completely understandable.

Completely disagree...

Payton's 1st choice was the Packers job, he dident get it. He was not gaurenteed anything that offseason.

Stop acting like Tom Benson didn't reward Payton!

The only thing that has changed was Paytons creditability and character was brought into question by media, coaches, leauge officials, fans and players. All the while Benson stood by him. Image is everything in big busniess and we can all stop acting like Sean Payton is compelely innecoent here.

Reguardless how good he is as a coach, there are alot of owners who would have kept him but their are also many who would have washed their hands of him and moved on.

All Im saying is I feel its time for Payton to show the Saints owner and their fans the kind of loyality we have showed him.